BBQ Steak

My Dad's First Steak

Mom and Dad had just gotten a divorce. For the first time, Dad found himself on his own with three boys. Dad raised the best beef in Indiana but was lost in the kitchen. So were me and my brothers.

One evening, Dad came in late, tired and hungry. I had read The Joy of Cooking to try and learn how to cook, but all of the recipes were now one big confused mess in my head. Dad opened the fridge and got out a package of meat he was thawing. He handed it to me and told me to fix him a steak. I was terrified of messing up the one food that for Dad had to be perfect. I had never cooked a steak before; I just knew that Dad liked his steak hot. I also remembered that Dad liked pepper, and lots of it, on absolutely everything.

First, I put the old black frying pan on the fire and turned it up as high as the flame would go. Then, I don't know what possessed me but I buttered that pepper-covered meat like a piece of bread. As the raw steak met the frying pan, the butter beganto smoke and burn. I then cut a lemon in half and squeezed it over the charred meat.

When I finally presented that steak to my dad I was so afraid. How could this black, lemon-splattered piece of meat be edible? I stood there trembling as Dad took his first bite. The look on his face transformed slowly from disgust, to surprise, then to utter satisfaction. My Dad wasn't the kind of man that gave compliments, so when he looked at me and told me that this was the best steak he had ever had, my heart soared. I didn't get one bite of that steak. Dad ate the whole thing. Over the years I've tried to recreate that steak in many variations. So far this is my best recipe:

  • 1 rib-eye steak
  • Salt
  • Crack pepper
  • Garlic butter
  • Half a lemon
  • Carbon or Kingsford mesquite

To Prepare:

  • Let steak thaw at room temperature
  • Sprinkle lightly with coarse salt on both sides.
  • Coat the steak with a thick layer of cracked pepper on both sides.
  • Fill the grill with Carbon or Kingsford mesquite.
  • Turn up the grill as high as the flame will go to get the temperature as hot as possible.
  • Once the stead is charred to your satisfaction, remove it from the grill.
  • Spread garlic butter over both sides of the steak and let it melt for a few minutes.
  • Squeeze half a lemon over your steak and serve hot!

* Serves 1

Why not finish that steak off with your very own Bourbon BBQ Sauce